Wizardry and Music

By Cheyenne GlennQuailBellMagazine.comSomewhere in between the wizard world and the muggle world, lie Harry and the Potters, a precocious rock duo, with a taste for punk and magic. Brothers, Paul and Joe DeGeorge formed Harry and the Potters back in 2002 with no other goal than to just have a good time playing songs about the books they loved. Eight years later, the duo shows no signs of stopping.

What makes them so special is that these guys don’t just sing about Harry Potter, they are Harry Potter. How would they describe how they are able to enchant crowds from all over? According to them, to be able to understand, one must “imagine if Harry Potter quit the Quidditch team and started a punk rock band. Take that one step further and imagine that he stole a time-turner and decided to start that band with himself from a different point in time. Imagine that band could exist without compromising themselves. Imagine that they are able to operate completely independently, without managers, booking agents, recording budgets, publicists, record labels, or anything aside from a sense of enthusiasm and a desire to have fun.” Imagining those things will undoubtedly paint a picture of Harry and the Potters. Pair that with their ability to seamlessly switch from pop punk to mellow indie and you have a winner. Each song elaborates on the story originally written by JK Rowling and gives it a youthful voice, connecting with young “wizards” everywhere.

It’s clear these guys can rock, but that isn’t all they’re doing. The DeGeorge brothers have also helped found The Harry Potter Alliance, an organization that uses wizardry to show some humanity. They accomplish this by modeling themselves after Dumbledore’s Army. Their efforts have allowed them to raise funds to protect citizens in Darfur and Burma, Donate thousands of books, and raise money to donate to the earthquake victims in Haiti. Harry and the Potters also launched the Wizard Rock EP of the Month Club, a monthly subscription to their music whose proceeds go to literary-based non-profit organizations.